Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion high school goals for gifted

Hello,
I am interested in help writing IEP goals for high school aged idenfied gifted students. Any ideas?

Hi, hall!

Are you a parent or a teacher? Are you looking for ways to define goals in general or are you trying to write an IEP for a specific student?

I'm interested to see what others say.

As a parent, I see there is little room for "individualized" in high school programs because the state/fed has so many specific graduation requirements. In my state, there are 24 requirements to graduate, we can only take 6 courses/ year (unless they're half yr courses clearly), specifically 4 English, 4 math, 1 semester state history, 1 semester health, 1 yr PE, 1 yr communication, 3 history/soc stud, 3 science, 7 electives (which usually include 3 more yrs foreign language).

What we wrote was to have honors or "gifted Advanced" or "pre-AP" or AP level courses. For my son, who is interested in econ & leadership, there was something about involving him in leadership opportunities (does this mean student council?). I'd like to see testing out options (he should have tested out/or placed out of 2 courses of English and one of math, but they were/are rigid and unwavering in their requirements of English 9, then English 10, then...

I am a new teacher at the high school. Previously, of course, transition goals have been written, there is a 30 minute study hall combined with 30 minute lunch. Freshman and Sophomores (gifted) come to my study hall and I touch base with them and their stress level as well as do self-directed searches, personality tests, etc. . The juniors and seniors have 30 min/month listed on their IEP's to touch base with me to work on career/transition goals. I am just an extra level of support for gifted. I am interested in making this a model high school program and I am just wondering how other high schools handle it. Ideas, suggestions?

My children are at the elementary level. I know some students at the high school are bussed over to a community college to take college level courses. I don't know what the parameters are. Hopefully more parents of high schoolers will drop in with comments.

Hi Hall,

I have some suggestions. One is "be their advocate". Our gifted counselor seemed to side with teachers when there were surprise grades. I expected an attitude of "there must be some mistake--you do this, while I'll do that to come to the bottom of it" (presume innocence, in other words). Let them know about contests/competitions/essays for prizes/etc., clubs they might be interested in, encourage involvement in student council or sports or whatever fits their personality. Tell them about summer programs, scholarships, maybe even research to find them to fit their interests. Preferably early on, and say it might be something to work toward. There are so many opportunities for economically disadvantaged kids. I would make sure they know what's out there. Many of the kids at the JHU/CTY summer institutes my sons went to were there on scholarship (first generation college-bound type). These are expensive programs, so it's really cool that the kids found mentors to help them go. In fact, when I delivered my son, the woman in line with the boy behind us was his teacher.
Outward Bound also has lots of scholarship kids.
I also encourage you to look at the kid rather than prescribe the same thing for all freshmen, all sophomores, etc. If you're on this board, you must be aware of different levels of giftedness, and what's right for some, isn't right for all. I still remember my son's counselor saying he should take Chinese. While he loves econ, he doesn't have a natural language abiity and Wanted to take French. She also said he should play tennis, when he emphatically Wanted to golf. It was plain old wierd how much she didn't consider my son's preferences.
I guess Jr/sr really have to focus on college search, testing.
The other help we needed was on figuring out the "system"--who could authorize what and what electives were truly available. Navigating these would be very helpful.

Hi Hall,
Good for you!
First - be sure to get in touch with Davidson's teacher resource:
http://www.davidsongifted.org/edguild/

Second - So you get to met with the students in groups? If so, you want to make sure that they have their study skill in line - many gifted kids don't need study skill until High School, and they when they suddenly do need them - they feel stupid and give up. Groups are also great for addressing soical/emotional issues - making friends in a new school for the freshs, and dealing with watching peers make poor choices is a biggie.

You might want to check out:
Living & Learning With Overexcitabilities by Cindy Strickland
a teaching unit for gifted middle school students, full of teaching aids, and ready to roll
http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/living_with_oes.htm

I agree that your role as encourager of summer programs, contests, is key. This combines with Career Planning and Motivation in a book titled: "What High Schools Don't tell you(and other Parnets don't want you to know)" by Elizabeth Wissner-Gross. Please don't let the provacative name scare you off - it's packed full of ways to motivate kids to be their biggest selves.


Another book that lists many resources for enrichment is Re-Forming Gifted Education: How Parents and Teachers Can Match the Program to the Child by Karen B. Rogers

Rogers also outlines how to make the most of what your school offers for an individual gifted kid.
I guess the other question I would raise, is, what about the parents? My son is in Middle School, and we get the clear message from the school that now is the time to 'back off' and 'let the children advocate for themselves.' I would guess that parents of gifted children play a big role in their lives (sometimes having to do double duty as parent and friend) and a little validation, and possibly guidance would probably go a long way.

I know that we parents can be a big drain, but you can get them to support each other, maybe: http://www.sengifted.org/parents_groups.shtml

Have fun wading through this!
Love and More Love,
Grinity